Commissioners pass county budget with tax hike

WEST CHESTER – Chester County Commissioners on Thursday unanimously approved a budget for 2013 that will increase county property taxes by about 5 percent.

It will be the first county tax increase since 2009.

The approval came with little public comment on the $519.9 million fiscal plan. The commissioners said the tax increase was necessary in large part to begin paying for a massive overhaul of the county’s emergency radio system, and came after years of austerity measures designed to keep expenses low while maintaining service levels.

According to the county administration’s budget proposal, which the commissioners adopted, the median tax bill in the county will rise next year from $624.38 to $657.24, an increase of $32.86. Property tax millage will rise from the current 3.965 to 4.163 mills, or 4.9 percent. A mill is $1 of tax for each $1,000 of assessed property value.

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County Chief Executive Officer Mark Rupsis had introduced the budget plan in November. Since then, the commissioners held a public hearing on the budget plan, and offered it again as part of their work session Tuesday. At the budget hearing, only three county residents spoke, none of them making any specific complaints about the tax increase.

At their session Thursday, the commissioners again asked for public comment on the budget, but received none.

In his budget presentation in November, Rupsis said the radio project —switching from an aging analog system frequently in need of repair to a modern, efficient digital one — within the county’s Department of Emergency Services will ultimately cost taxpayers $55 million, although the full cost will be spread out over a number of years through a capital bond issue.

Commissioner RyanCostello said there was no choice involved in the decision to make the switch, only how to pay for it. “Every fireman, police officer, emergency responder, and municipal officials as well, say it is necessary,” he said.

That expense, however, comes at a time when the county is facing a “perfect storm” of budget concerns. The property tax base is flat, after falling from a period of sustained growth in 2010; interest income has declined from $11.7 million in 2007 to an estimate of barely over $200,000 in 2013; employee benefit and pension costs are steadily increasing; and there is a drop in departmental earnings.

The county had asked each department head to propose a budget with a 3 percent reduction, Rupsis said. Further, four departments — Emergency Services, Human Services, Computer and Information Services, and Parks and Facilities— had faced layoffs and reorganizations.

The total budget will rise from $514.1 million in 2012 to $519.9 million in 2013. Next year’s operating budget calls for $424 million in operating expenses and $97 million in capital expenses.

Commissioner’s Chairman Terence Farrell said he appreciated that he and his colleagues were able to put politics aside and adopt the budget plan without major disagreements. The trio has been warning residents for most of 2012 there would likely be a need for a tax increase because of increasing county costs at a time when the property tax base is stagnant. Third-class county governments canlevy only one form of taxes: property taxes.

“I’ve never seen a unanimous vote of a budget that had a property tax increase,” Farrell said at the end of the meeting. “This is an indication that we can work through issues” and “put the interests of the citizens ahead of politics.”

Vice Chairwoman Kathi Cozzone said the stalling economy had presented her and her colleagues with a set of challenges to keep taxes and expenses low while continuing to provide essential services that residents support.

“It has been refreshing to be able to work together to find solutions to address those challenges,” she said. “That doesn’t mean we agree all the time. But we can disagree without being disagreeable.”

Costello, finishing up his first full year on the board after replacing former Commissioner Carol Aichele in 2011, agreed the board had found a way to work in harmony as it faced fiscal difficulties. “We do out best to listen to all sides, even if sometimes they don’t make sense,” he said. “We get along, and we respect and work well together.”

The last year that the commissioners approved a tax increase was 2008 for 2009, when the millage rate rose from 3.804 to the current 3.965 mills.